Sapphire X1950 Pro, know "Power off - reboot" issue

[Barrichello]

Scan guys i need some help please.

I tried calling support but was unable to get through just now and needed some quick advice.

Futher to the earlier thread here...
http://forums.hexus.net/showthread.p...light=x1950pro

I am also now having the same problem where if i play a slightly intensive gpu game the screen goes black/powers off. It is fine in 2D etc but as soon as i tried Battlefield2 or Half life2 it seems to run fine for about 10mins then "BLACK SCREEN" the fan spins up and i have to reboot. Event viewer confirms that there is a "ATI hang" error at that time. Im forced to reboot to remedy.It appears to happen if the card hits around 60c as other people have experienced.

As you may know i am not the only one with this problem as i can see that other Scan customers have RMA'ed the same card back to you and it has been acknowledged as a problem. Reading the big thread here you have been helpful to other people - http://www.sapphiretech.com/en/forum...&page=20&pp=10

Just want to know what my options are? do i....

1. RMA card back to you and recieve a speedy replacement for the new "ultimate" sapphire edition of the card which addresses the known heating issues on the VRM with this card.(now has heatsink on them) Or maybe a simular spec Nvidia card.

2. Keep my card and run the fan at 100% which Scan have advised (going to be abit noisey though i think and maybe not good for the card long term.

3. Keep my card and attempt to mod the VRM with heatsinks (validating warranty) all abit risky for me as i am unexperienced.

The main issue i have with option 1. is the length of time i will be without a graphic card as it rendors my PC useless for this time as i do not have a spare video card.

for info i got the card from you on 21/11/06 so i dont know how long i have to decide what to do?

Any advise please with current stance on this known issue with my card?

kind Regards

(P.S just want to add all the rest of the Kit i ordered from you is great and works well)

[JPreston]

Oh marvellous, I've just ordered one of these (it should arrive tomorrow)

Hope mine works OK anyway (I noticed you said this too), from the linked threads it seems to be a general problem with all X1950Pro's rather than specific to Sapphire (which is just the reference design after all) but as none of the glowing reviews mentioned it I am hoping all of you experiencing problems have exceptionally rubbish air flow in your cases or something.

Good luck getting it sorted anyway, I'll keep track of this story with interest, most important at least we've ordered from Scan and not anywhere else

[Barrichello]

I am hoping all of you experiencing problems have exceptionally rubbish air flow in your cases or something.

Sorry to say but my cooling is actually pretty good - i have 4 intake/outake, and cpu arctic cooler all running more or less max. I even have a PCI exhuast blower as well a few slots down from my 1950pro to get rid of excess hot air from the machine. Even more so alot of people as have reported in the sapphire thread even have water cooling. Some guy even has water cooling on the GPU of the 1950pro but it is to no avail as he still had the problem until he modded himself some heatsinks for the VRM chips (at the end of the card)

the problem areas is as circled here on the Stock card below



if you click on the link below here it pretty much sums it all up

http://www.sapphiretech.com/en/forum...&postcount=164

[JPreston]

That's a really useful link at the end but I'm unclear; does the cooler as it's originally fitted already make contact with the VRMs or did the poster stick those thermal pads on himself?

I'll also consider getting an Accelero X2 for it anyway - I'll have to consider whether that would blow over the VRMs or not (I would stick RAM sinks on). But of course I'd like to verify that it works as standard before I invalidate the warranty trying to fix it, so am still hoping mine is OK (I wonder what percentage of them are being returned anyway).

[JimNastics]

That's a really useful link at the end but I'm unclear; does the cooler as it's originally fitted already make contact with the VRMs or did the poster stick those thermal pads on himself?

I'll also consider getting an Accelero X2 for it anyway - I'll have to consider whether that would blow over the VRMs or not (I would stick RAM sinks on). But of course I'd like to verify that it works as standard before I invalidate the warranty trying to fix it, so am still hoping mine is OK (I wonder what percentage of them are being returned anyway).

I'm the poster of that post (merkin51) - the thermal pads are already on there, and yes the stock cooler does make contact with the VRMs, via those thermal pads. There's basically two situations:

1) If you keep the stock cooler, you will most likely need to run the fan at 100% (using ATI Tools or mod the bios) during games to stop the VRMs from overheating. This is because of poor bios fan management which doesn't speed the fan up quick enough, meaning the VRMs overheat and crash the card. Unfortunately, some people are still reporting crashes after long gaming sessions with this method, which suggests the stock cooler just isn't up to the job and that the VRMs are working close to the threshold all the time, eventually tipping over the edge. All you can do is give it a go and see what happens. Or...

2) Stick your own after market cooler on, but make sure you mod the VRMs with a heatink or individual ramsinks, like in those photos. Naked VRMs will basically give you crashes after 5 to 10 minutes of any current game, even a couple of minutes of ATI Tool artifact scanner sends mine over the edge.

[JimNastics]

Just to add to that post, of course there is a good chance that your card will be absolutely fine... remember people only complain in forums when somethings wrong, not when their card is fine and dandy We've got no idea of knowing what percentage of cards have this problem, you might get a good one .

[JPreston]

Yes that's what I think the gist of that thread is, maybe a bad batch of those thermal pads or their fitment exacerbated by the poor cooling design is the root of the problem, but I'm buying mine a few weeks after everyone else and hopefully I'll be OK. It's handy to know though, in case I do get this problem then I'll know what it is likely to be straightaway rather than have to do a long process of elimination. And glad to hear that scan are being helpful (they allegedly appear to have had only a few returned out of 120+ sold). Someone says that support at Scan told them that it's not worth RMAing their card for exchange because they all basically have this problem (which would be a bit controversial) - but instead of thinking "Then WTF are they still selling them for" I read this as saying that they are happy to refund these should the problem be encountered, which is all good.

If I do have the problem, then depending on whether Scan have an ETA for the ultimate edition with the Zalman cooler or not I would look to either return the card and upgrade to one of those or do the DIY job - bit more expensive, and no warranty, but I quite fancy having a new and working card right now because I am out of work until January and want to play some BF2142, dammit

BTW how are you getting on with your habu mouse? I notice from your thread that someone is having firmware problems with theirs - I've ordered one of these to arrive with the X1950Pro

[Barrichello]

Quick update: Last night used ATI tools to set up a fan speed/temp ratio of the following

40c-55c - fan runs at 60% speed instead of stock 40%

55c-70c - fan runs at 80% speed

So far so good and after 10 hours of solid BF2 and company of heroes with all effects on and no crash. I was alt tabing checking the temps and with the above set up i was mostly staying within 50-55c anyway.

Looking at it i spose my card may not be as bad as some people have, i think the description of a "lazy" fan/bios management makes sense. Doesnt seem to ramp up fast enough when needed, so you have to use a app like ati tools to tell it what to do.

Bearing in mind the above i think i will keep hold of this card, because apart from this issue it is very good performance/cost wise. If need be i may try what you have done Jimnastics - but for now all seems to be ok, if things do get hot on my card 80% fan speed is not to unbearable to me. Its only going to be keeping me going until DX10 time etc so im sure i will get by :-)

[JPreston]

Quick update: Last night used ATI tools to set up a fan speed/temp ratio of the following

40c-55c - fan runs at 60% speed instead of stock 40%

55c-70c - fan runs at 80% speed

...

Mine arrived today, I chucked it in and have played about an hour each of BF2142 and Obvlivion with basically everything turned up, worked fine and didn't crash. Well, the menus in BF2142 weren't displaying properly but neither did they with my old card, so that's EA for you

So hopefully my card is fine, but after a few more hours of hopefully trouble-free use just to make sure I'll probably increase the fan speed in ATI tools as you suggest above anyway. Fantastic card for the money too

[Lee H]

If your still experiencing the issues with the card, the best thing I can advise really is to log this with the returns/tech guys at the link Here with the information you've provided or a link to this thread and then they will be able to assist you further.

I hope this information helps.

Best Regards,

[ww1]

Got this problem as well. I RMA'd the card and Scan could not find a fault with it.
The test involved a 3 hour loop on 3dMark06 on a bare motherboard.
I was told I have inadequate cooling... I'm not so sure.
I took the card back (£35!!) as I wanted to play the games I had bought for this card over christmas (refund would've taken 10 to 12 days and, my choice, didn't really want to wait until mid january for a card).

So if Scan are looking for an employee to have gaming sessions on overheating cards, I'll send my CV straight away

I should have my card back tomorrow, I will just run the fan on the board at 80% when I'm gaming. I won't change the heatsink and fan until the warrenties are void (2years). Hopefully it'll break by then so I can moan again!

As you may know i am not the only one with this problem as i can see that other Scan customers have RMA'ed the same card back to you and it has been acknowledged as a problem.

Does this say what I think it means? ie. Scan know of this problem? As no one on the phone mentioned it to me!

[trovah]

Could you please point out the voltage regulators on this card?
I really cant seem to find it:

w w w .firingsquad.com/media/hirez.asp?file=/hardware/powercolor_radeon_x1950_pro_agp_review/images/09.jpg

[trovah]

bummmpz0r. takes 2 minutes for you to help me

[Richh]

It takes 30 seconds for you to clean your glasses and have a look at the photos Barrichello already posted trovah. He has even helpfully circled the VRMs for you!

[trovah]

It takes 30 seconds for you to clean your glasses and have a look at the photos Barrichello already posted trovah. He has even helpfully circled the VRMs for you!

n00b!

Well they arent exactly at the same place.



WHERE ARE THE VOLTAGE REGULATORS?

[Slothy]

I'd assume they are underneath the wee black heat-sink type thingies with the indentations. See that white circle on the right hand side of the card? Notice how the VRMs are in the same relative position on that circle?